Thinning hair solution

Over 43 million American women have experienced thinning hair, so you are not alone. Depending on what type of hair thinning you're experiencing, there are a variety of ways to deal with it - and even overcome it. The sooner you take action, the better.

An effective way to treat female hereditary hair thinning (also known as androgenetic alopecia) is with topical minoxidil, the active ingredient found in Women's Rogaine®. This treatment stimulates hair regrowth.

For alopecia areata, treatment options include injected or topical corticosteroids, alone or in combination with other medications.

Telogen effluvium is treated by treating the underlying cause, if it can be identified.

Thinning hair, whether temporary or ongoing, can be masked by wearing hairpieces or wigs. You should also take advantage of styling tips that will help make your thinning hair look its fullest.

Women's Rogaine

So your hair is getting thinner, and it's been determined that the cause is androgenetic alopecia - in other words, it's genetic. There's nothing you can do about genes, but there is something you can do about the thinning.

More than one million women have used Women's Rogaine to help regrow hair.

Women's Rogaine contains minoxidil - it is the only FDA-approved ingredient for thinning hair in women. The efficacy and safety of Rogaine have been clinically proven in more than 40 clinical trials including both men and women. Rogaine is a clear liquid treatment that you place directly on your scalp, twice a day, everyday. It dries quickly, so it won't interfere with styling your hair.

Clinical trials have shown that almost two out of three women who used Women's Rogaine were regrowing hair after eight months of use.

If your hair is thinning, and it's due to androgenetic alopecia, Women's Rogaine could be an effective solution for you. And the sooner you begin treatment, the better, since it could take up to four months of continuous usage until you see results.

Hairpieces/Wigs

Today there are many stylish wigs from which to choose. They range in price from $50 to $6,000, and can be made from synthetics or natural hair. A good wig can be styled to mimic your hair. Or you may want to consider a totally different look.

Hairpieces are also an option. They blend in, "threading" through your own hair to give you coverage just where you need it. Hairpieces, available as synthetics or natural hair, range from $30 to $100.

Hair additions, such as extensions, are also worth considering. But be careful that the weight of the addition doesn't pull on your hair, possibly causing increased hair thinning due to traumatic alopecia. Hair additions also can be costly because of the technique and time it takes to complete the hairstyle.

If you decide that covering up is the way you want to cope with your thinning hair, take the time to experiment and explore your options.

Hair Transplant Surgery

You can't talk about hair transplant surgery without talking about follicles. Each person's scalp has approximately 100,000 follicles; blondes have more and redheads have fewer. The average person sheds up to 100 hairs daily. If you have androgenetic alopecia, you're shedding more.

Hair transplant surgery replaces lost hair to re-create your natural hair pattern. There are several methods of surgery. The most common, "grafting," replaces individual hairs with hair plugs. "Excising" replaces the area of thinning hair with another piece of skin that contains more hair follicles.

To find out if you're a candidate for hair transplant surgery, talk with your dermatologist, hair transplant surgeon, or stylist. They'll help you make your decision.

Styling Tips

These styling tips work with other solutions for thinning hair, such as the Women's Rogaine® treatment. With some patience, practice, and special products, you can achieve what stylists have been doing for years - making thin and thinning hair look fuller!

Use products specially formulated for fine, thin, and thinning hair.
Rinse your hair well! Leftover residue weighs hair down.
Treat your hair gently to avoid breakage, especially when it's wet.
Use a wide-tooth comb or a natural-hair brush.
When using curlers, or a curling iron, wind loosely and gently.
Apply a light conditioner just to the ends of your hair.
Towel-dry your hair first, and then use a low heat setting on your blow-dryer.
If wearing a ponytail, don't pull hair too tightly. And don't use rubber bands!
To get volume, "back comb" your hair: bend over and comb up and back from the front of your head toward the crown.
Fine hair looks fuller when it's shorter, so try an above-the-shoulder, layered cut, or a blunt cut.
Vary your part, make it zigzag, or go with a "messy" part or no part at all!
Get a perm or curl your hair to create volume.
Color your hair one shade lighter, or get all-around highlights.
Consider cosmetic camouflage! There are new "cover-up" products, such as Toppik (microfiber "hairs" made from protein to thicken your existing hair), COUVRe (a cream or spray that masks thinning hair), and DermMatch (a cosmetic powder that temporarily thickens hair and covers the scalp). Ask your stylist for more information.